As I’ve been toiling away on my latest project; the “Twin Empires” campaign path, a question has sprung to mind. How early should the players know who/what the Big Bad is?

Obviously, there should be subtle hints or links that tie together the Big Bad to the beginning of the campaign, but how long should it be before the players finally realize exactly who their final enemy is?

A couple months ago my roommate finished running the first adventure in the Rise of the Runelords series. Sadly we weren’t able to complete the campaign with that group (though my roommate is running it for another one), and I have taken the liberty of reading through the adventures for my own satisfaction. One interesting point is that while the main baddy of the adventure path is mentioned throughout the first adventure, it is more than likely that the players will never even realize who he is.

There is benefit to showing off the Big Bad early on, as it creates a sense of tension and rivalry between the party and this force. Being someone who plays World of Warcraft, I can say that in my opinion, the best part of the latest expansion is the level of interaction players are given with the final boss; the Lich King. Even at lower levels, players are given the chance to interact with ‘The King’, usually in the form of a quick in-game scene where he taunts someone and walks away. Getting such a good view of the enemy from early in a game really lends credit to the eventual goal of killing that person. Lets be honest here; the goal of most campaigns is to “Save the world and kill the villain”, so you might as well give the villain some screen time.

If there is a single game that emphasizes good villain development; it’s Final Fantasy 6 (3 for us North Americans). The game introduces the crazed clown Kefka in the first few scenes. As the game continues, the party is forced to fight Kefka several times, though it is revealed that Kefka works for a power hungry Emperor. As the game reaches its climax, the party chases after Kefka and the Emperor to a floating island, and by this point it’s assumed that the final battle will be against the Emperor. The twist comes when Kefka kills his Emperor, takes the power of the island, and basically unleashes an apocalypse on the planet. Suddenly the game takes a sudden twist; Kefka is now the main bad guy, and the story turns from prevention to revenge against him for ending the world. Sadly Final Fantasy games are not always like this, and most of the time they unveil some ‘hidden enemy’ within the last few hours of the game (FF VIII, FF III, FF IV, and more…).

So really, what is the proper way to reveal a Big Bad in a campaign? Is it to slowly build them up in a stunning reveal midway through? Is it better to start off the campaign with the Big Bad and just build upon the Party/Big Bad relationship? Is it better to have the real Big Bad turn out to be some weird Tree Demon as the final fight to the campaign?

I bet the Cylons would know. Ah the Cylons; another fantastic method of deploying a villain to an audience. Made famous from the remade Battlestar Galactica, the Cylons doubled as villains and plot MacGuffin for the series. Essentially hidden amongst the cast, the audience was aware that there were twelve Cylon models, and that anyone could possibly be one. As the main plot moved forward, the Cylons were revealed in ways that further advanced the story, and in some cases they created dramatic twists of fate (I.E. end of Season One). Obviously these methods could be used in a regular campaign with the Doppleganger as played by one of the PCs, but unless handled in such an overarching way, the use of such a plot device becomes stale.

As I write the Twin Empires stuff, I think I’ve stumbled upon a unique way to treat the Big Bad. Only time will tell if it works out, but in the meantime I’d love to hear thoughts from the audience!

Rugult

So following the events of the ‘collapsing tower’ from our previous session, the party was quite into the campaign and really wanted to get in another session. Normally we game on Saturdays (Fridays being my Iron Kingdoms game), so we discussed the possibility of running a session on Sunday but sadly my girlfriend (the party druid) had prior commitments. Sunday night in a flurry of IMs we found out that we could game late Monday night, so we decided to continue then.

Our last session had ended with the party discovering that Clegg Zincher had been charmed by local Drow. I suppose since my players are enamored with Clegg, they wanted to game ASAP in hopes of saving the poor Crime Lord. Upon starting the session they made directly for the cave in an attempt to defeat the drow and try to free Clegg from their charms.

The sojourn into the cave went rather poorly at first, with the party activating a Glyph of Warding; alerting most of the drow to their presence. After a few rounds of combat with the two guards stationed near the entrance, the Shadow Demon joined the fray. Not having Ghost Touch or a dedicated spell caster (the wizard is more of a fighty spellcaster), the Demon gave them quite a bit of trouble. They went a few rounds with the demon as he engaged, attempted to fear, pulled back, charged back in, though eventually they headed further into the cave complex to continue the fight. At this point the players caught the attention of the Drow Druid and his Gecko, who went to town on the fighter. The Monk hurtled in and grappled the Druid; effectively removing him from combat. Soon after the Gecko and Shadow Demon were killed in lucky hits, and the Druid fell shortly after. With these enemies defeated and more coming, the players decided to do the smart thing and run back to camp.

Now as the DM I had a problem. I wanted the last encounter to be difficult and not a walk in the park. The fact that the PC’s decided to run back to camp presented me with two problems.

• If they rested up and came back, then the encounter would be fairly simple.
• Why wouldn’t the drow leave the island immediately after the attack?

So I decided to tweak the adventure a bit, and had Clegg Zincher not return to camp the following day. Since the players were for some reason devoted to the Crime Boss, they rushed off to the cave once more. Seeing Clegg face first in the water, the party druid rushed forward in wolf form to help him… only to receive a pick in the face. It was only appropriate that Clegg Zincher’s first real attack was a critical with a pick!

The ‘final battle’ started with the heroes rushing out to assist the druid, and the dark elf cleric emerging on the docks onto the water with her water walk spell. The monk wasted no time and jump tackled the drow, knocking her prone on the water while he swam just under her. Then the druid noticed the Orca in the water…

I’ll keep the summary somewhat brief… but the combat involved the Monk single handedly fending off the Orca and the drow priestess, while the rest of the party were forced into combat with Clegg Zincher. Zincher started tearing through the party and dealt quite a bit of damage before he was finally killed by a luck hit from the fighter/wizard. However the battle was just as epic, if not more, than the battle in the collapsing tower!

So for Adventure 3, I’m debating starting with the party madly fleeing the island as Akatas chase after them, or start back in Riddleport with the funeral for Clegg.

Rugult

Yesterday I finished yet another ‘Second Darkness’ session. Right now my party is currently on the second adventure; ‘Children of the Void’ and when the session started they were exploring the abandoned village of Witchlight. The party currently consists of a Monk, a Fighter, a Druid and a Fighter/Wizard planning to go Eldritch Knight.

When they arrived at the village, the party first encountered a group of Void Zombies who they were quick to defeat, though they took some ability damage in the process. Next up they found a group of surviving Cyphermages, as well as their old acquaintance Samaritha holed up in the tower. After a brief meeting the party; who were low on resources from dealing with the zombies and a random encounter with an assassin vine, rested in the tower. The druid rested to regain spells while the other three assisted in fortifying the tower itself, as the Cyphermages described terrible ‘blue beasts’ that attacked them early after their arrival.

With the party monk outside the tower gathering materials, the Akatas (blue four legged old-onesque wolf things) burst out from the woods to attack. The monk was bit twice by the creatures before pushing into the tower just as the heroes closed the door. As they held the entrance and heard the scratching sounds of the creatures outside, the party cauterized their monk’s wounds as two of the party members held him down and the druid used one of her few remaining Produce Flame spells.

Immediately following the cauterization, the creatures had begun to dig their way into the tower; starting with three getting in. A violent combat erupted as the party avoided getting bit, while fighting off more and more creatures that dug their way in. Suddenly everyone was shocked as the tower began to lean to its side!

Pulling up the stairs of the tower, the main fighter of the party held off the oncoming creatures for a short time before the whole tower fell on its side. With the floor now gone, another fourteen of the creatures entered the tower. The fighters and monk held back the creatures while the druid attempting to prevent the tower from rolling with a Gust of Wind spell. The spell gave them a bit of time, and the fighters were able to carve up a few more of the Akatas, but then the tower went into a rolling descent down the nearby cliff.

In the end, the monk and fighter/wizard had successfully escaped while the remaining fighter and druid braced before crashing into the waves below. Luckily for them the sea water acted as acid to the creatures, and the two were able to swim out of the sinking tower. Samaritha made a hasty escape as well, sadly her two fellow Cyphermages were both brutally killed by the fall itself.

Following the fall of the tower and their regrouping, the party had no choice but to go visit the camp of Clegg Zincher. I swear they think he’s the coolest NPC ever designed…

Rugult

Below is a brief excerpt from my current Twin Empires article on the god Xemen.

XEMEN
Xemen (Zem-In) is the god of Trade and Merchants. Often depicted as a boisterous man always trying to arrange a sale or trade, Xemen finds followers in all lands of the world. Nascent communities often worship Xemen in hopes of prospering, while established cities maintain lavish citadels to the god of trade in hopes that their good fortune will continue. In such communities it is often the priests of Xemen who preside over rituals involving divine healing; as Xemen is one of three gods who has been granted specialization in healing.

History

Following the end of the war against the Protoviles, the great heroes of the conflict ascended into the realm of Godhood. Often considered the last of the mortals to ascend, Xemen had been a trader during the Protovile Wars. History records that Xemen brokered the first trade arrangements between Elves and Dwarves, and later arranged the required naval assets for the final days of the War when the surviving Protoviles were hunted down as they fled to lost continents. Though his actions are now revered by most people for achieving victory in the war, many servants of other gods do not forgive Xemen for his one great failing; he traded with both sides in the war.

When the slave woman (now goddess) Nevis, lead her uprising against the Protoviles and secured a free land for those who followed her, the Protoviles sued for peace. Realizing that Nevis’ rebellion could upset their rule, the Protoviles sent an envoy to discuss terms for a peaceful solution before their enslaved followers rose against them. A young Xemen presided over the discussions, which Nevis used only as a stall tactic to gather her forces. When the discussions were revealed to be a farce, Xemen was disgraced; a failure to the Protoviles who thought he was a master negotiator, and a traitor to the uprising forces.

Seeking to leave his former life behind, Xemen traveled across the seas to uncharted lands where he arranged new trade deals, and secured new allies. When the war crossed the seas, both the Protoviles and the forces of Nevis were once again forced into negotiations with Xemen. Though loathed to admit it, Nevis required the social network that Xemen had created in these new lands, and thus she entered into the terse trade discussions with him. Xemen was more than willing to supply Nevis with the supplies her forces needed, and when confronted about what he wanted in return, Xemen simply stated; “We can discuss that at another time.” When the forces of the Protoviles came ashore, Xemen made similar arrangements with their ambassadors, also citing his desire to be paid back at a later date.

As the war grew in intensity, Xemen continued brokering deals and ensuring his coffers were kept full. Many regarded him as a savior, while others thought of him as a war profiteer, but in Xemen’s eyes it was ‘just business’. When Vadis the Protovile was sealed deep beneath the earth, Xemen could see which way the war was swinging. Placing more and more emphasis on assisting the anti-Protovile forces, Xemen soon became a hero to all as he assisted in arranging many victories against the Protoviles.

Soon the only bastion of Protovile forces remained in the cold north on the continent of Celemus, led by the final Protovile; Fhazu. As forces massed for their final assault on the northern stronghold, a meeting of great military leaders was convened. During this meeting, Berethos; the general who had been fighting Fhazu since the beginning of the war demanded an immediate strike against the cowering Protovile. When Xemen suggested the possibility of negotiation, the general went mad with rage and slashed at Xemen with his bastard sword; putting a deep wound in Xemen’s left arm.

Eventually Fhazu was defeated, and following the final defeat of their enemies, several prominent figures of the war were ascended to godhood. As the first convocation of gods occurred, the newly deified beings bade their followers come to speak with them before they departed the mortal plane. Midway through the great meeting, Xemen appeared before the gathered gods dressed in the finest apparel and with his trademark smile beaming before them. Nevis, who had always despised Xemen for his near treacherous trading with the Protoviles attempted to dismiss the merchant immediately. Xemen retorted to this by calling in his old debts to the goddess, stating that she now owed him a debt that even she could not repay. Before the goddess could speak, the hall was bathed in a wash of light, and by whatever power had made the others deities; Xemen was admitted into the divine host.

Rugult

If there’s one thing I despise about getting involved in a new campaign setting, it’s learning an entirely new pantheon. There’s something about how pretentious players can get off their own knowledge of deities in a given campaign setting. I used to play in a Forgotten Realms game, emphasis on the word ‘USED’. The reason for my cessation of Realms campaigns stemmed from two major issues:

1) Because of sheer scope of the line/novels, the players will undoubtedly know more then me in some way and later use it against me.

2) The over involvement of deities in almost every story arc. Take for example the entire series of FR books relating to Cyric, and then to Bane dying, and so on and so forth.

What grinds my gears is pantheons that change more often than I change clothes in a day. I freely admit that one of my favorite 2e books would be the old Forgotten Realms Faiths & Avatars; a fine display on how to layout and describe individual deities within a pantheon. The book was so perfectly written that you could pick any random power therein and be able to make up a character with several quirks that made him related to said power. Now thanks to the God shuffle, unless I decided to play in that specific timeline (or royally change the Realms), a good chunk of the information held within is no longer relevant. Boo-Urns.

Several years ago I ran a Ravenloft campaign based on the premise of the dead Realms god Moander building his strength from within the Mists. It was a very fun campaign, and I got to put a lot of deity facts to use, while not having to fudge a lot of other setting material. The point I am making, is that if you have a well written article (in this case Moander’s entry), even if some future event invalidates it, you should be able to get some use out of the original material.

Cut forward to my Twin Empires campaign design. Aside from a few basic notes from my last campaign, I am primarily going into Pantheon design blind. In the Player’s Guide, I’ve inserted a list of the various gods of the setting. Aside from a few of these Gods (mainly Xemen), most of these gods have not been fully fleshed out, and it is my goal to describe them through future adventure releases as separate attached articles.

I’ve already decided for the Twin Empires campaign, that unless the player’s mess up VERY badly, there is no need for divine intervention. Gods in my eye should remain aloof of mortal affairs, and in the case of the Phantasm gods that were once mortal, I think this makes a lot of sense.

In advance of the Pilot adventure for Twin Empires, I hope to release an article describing the major god of the starting region; Xemen the merchant god. In the meantime, feel free to tell me your thoughts on gaming pantheons!

Rugult

Let’s go with stream of thought on this post, that should be fun...

Right now I’m in the middle of design work on my latest planned campaign; a Pathfinder RPG game that is taking place in a homebrew world. Currently the ‘codename’ for the world is Phantasm, though if anything else jumps to my mind I may rename it.

The basic premise for Phantasm is that roughly a thousand years ago there were four terrible beings known as Protoviles. These elder evils had enslaved the world, though their reign was ended by a rebellion of the slave races. The great heroes of this war ended up ascending into godhood at the end of the war, giving rise to the first gods of the world. So basically gods/goddesses are fairly recent (last thousand years), and the world is still recovering from the great war to this very day. As a friend of mine put it; “This world had its apocalypse, and the people lived.”

Phantasm was derived from an old one-shot campaign I ran a while back, with several elements being ported over and other elements being dropped because they didn’t work. One such examples of this was a player who built his character based on the concept that the elven god who kept them thin and fit died… so all elves were fat.

With some of my players craving a return to the homebrew setting I’ve started work well in advance. Right now I am running two games off and on; one an Iron Kingdoms all Dwarf party, because Dwarves are superior. The second campaign is ironically enough, the Second Darkness adventure path from Paizo. Both of these campaigns are running under the Pathfinder RPG with little to no problems, so with this in mind I’ve been writing out material for my new campaign.

As of this moment I have a 17 page Player’s Guide and a 10 page Game Master’s guide. Both these books are highly inspired from the Pathfinder RPG and ENworld’s own War of the Burning Sky campaign setting. Essentially, these books layout information useful for the players and GMs in separate guides. The goal is to give my player’s a booklet that they can read through in advance to get a good solid footing before we actually start the campaign, instead of the sometimes awkward ‘character creation session’ that sometimes occurs when doing a homebrew game. If anyone is interested in seeing a copy of these two booklets, I have attached them below.

With the Player’s Guide/Game Master’s Guide both *done* I’ve moved onto work for the first adventure. I’ve been drawing a lot on some of the more memorable campaigns I’ve been involved in, and am taking layout/design ideas from items like the Pathfinder adventure paths, the War of the Burning Sky, and several older books I have kicking around like the 2e Faiths & Avatars. All in all, I should at least walk away from this experience with some well organized notes.

Now… back to the grind.


*Files Removed from Blog. Please see post in Plots & Places*

Rugult